Estate & Tax Planning
Our attorneys handle all aspects of estate and tax planning, including providing counsel on the development and implementation of sophisticated estate planning techniques designed to achieve our clients’ personal objectives and transfer wealth in the most tax-efficient manner. Our attorneys also assist clients with nontax aspects of estate and personal planning, such as asset protection, centralized management of assets, transitioning ownership of a family business, premarital agreements, and effective use of trusts for children and grandchildren. Serving as “family advisers,” we offer pragmatic guidance on complex issues, helping our clients provide for future generations.
Fiduciary Litigation, Will Contests & Family Disputes
In the dispute resolution area, our attorneys have extensive experience working with individual and corporate fiduciaries, investment advisers/managers, family offices and individuals. Among other matters, we handle legal proceedings and controversies related to will contests, court accountings, surcharge actions, removal actions, fiduciary fee disputes, insolvent estates, tax audits and tax controversies, and controversies surrounding the construction of wills and trusts. Our attorneys also use alternative dispute resolution methods, such as arbitration or mediation, when appropriate.
Guardianships
We handle cases for guardians of both the estate and the person of incapacitated individuals, and we represent both individual and corporate guardians for minor children, elderly individuals and disabled individuals. In doing so, we handle all aspects of guardianships, from securing the guardianship appointment through advising the guardian in his or her fiduciary role, with a practical and sensitive approach. Our attorneys also handle cases and provide advice to family members with respect to guardians who have abused their authority.
Premarital, Postnuptial & Cohabitation Agreements
Our attorneys have extensive experience negotiating, drafting and handling all issues regarding premarital, postnuptial and cohabitation agreements. We prepare these agreements as tools not only to protect our clients’ assets but also to address issues such as debt responsibilities, support obligations, real and personal property ownership, property division upon divorce or death, rights to income and expense-sharing arrangements, and the manner in which disputes will be resolved (e.g., through arbitration or mediation, as opposed to litigation).
Private Foundations
Our attorneys help clients establish, obtain tax exemptions for and, when necessary, dissolve private foundations. We also assist with regulatory compliance and legal issues, providing guidance to founders, board members, officers and employees on all aspects of private foundation operations, and enabling them to focus on charitable giving.
Retirement Planning
With respect to retirement assets, we counsel clients on how best to structure and time investments, take or refrain from taking distributions to optimize the value of these assets, and limit tax liability and avoid penalties. We also provide advice on how these assets can be used to fund trusts for their families and to carry out their charitable intentions. We are well-informed in a wide range of financial products and investment vehicles, and adept at advising on how they can be used to help you achieve your financial goals.
Record-Setting Auction Sale of Rare Pre-Revolutionary Table
Notably, Stradley Ronon Partners John C. Hook and Stephanie E. Sanderson-Braem represented a client in a record-setting auction sale of a rare pre-revolutionary pie-crust table attributed to the Garvan carver, which dates back to the early 1760s. Auctioned by Christie’s, the antique table sold for more than $6.7 million.